is a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

written by

Mizuki Tsujimura is a Japanese writer from Fuefuki, Yamanashi. Tsujimura specializes in mystery novels. She writes both for adults and children. She has been writing mystery novels from since she was a high school student, and she decided to go to Chiba Univ ...

, and published by Poplar Publishing in May 2017. A

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

adaptation illustrated by Tomo Taketomi was serialized in

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

's ''seinen'' magazine ''

Ultra Jump is a Japanese monthly seinen manga magazine published by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. Originally, the magazine was a special issue of ''Weekly Young Jump'' which was first issued in 1995. On October 19, 1999, the special issue beca ...

'' from June 2019 to February 2022, with its chapters collected into five ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes. An

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

film adaptation by

A-1 Pictures is a Japanese animation studio founded by ex-Sunrise producer Mikihiro Iwata and it is a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan's anime production firm Aniplex. History The studio was established by SMEJ's animation production division, ...

premiered on December 23, 2022 in Japan.

Characters

; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; :

Media

Novel

Written by

, ''Lonely Castle in the Mirror'' was originally published on May 11, 2017 through Poplar Publishing. The company re-released the novel in a two-volume paperback format in March 2021. The novel was published in English by Doubleday in April 2021.

Manga

adaptation illustrated by Tomo Taketomi was serialized in

's ''seinen'' manga magazine ''

'' from June 19, 2019, to February 19, 2022. Shueisha collected its chapters into five ''

'' volumes, published from December 2019 to May 2022. The manga is licensed in North America by

Seven Seas Entertainment Seven Seas Entertainment is an American publishing company located in Los Angeles, California. It was originally dedicated to the publication of original English-language manga, but now publishes licensed manga and light novels from Japan, as we ...

Anime film

film adaptation was announced on February 24, 2022. It is produced by

and directed by

Keiichi Hara is a Japanese director of animated films. Biography What started Hara on his career as an animation creator was visiting an animation film company as part of his job hunting activities after graduating from Tokyo Designer Gakuin College (TDG). H ...

, with scripts written by Miho Maruo, character designs handled by Keigo Sasaki, who also serves as chief animation director, visual concept and castle design by

Ilya Kuvshinov Ilya Kuvshinov (born 20 February 1990) is a Russian illustrator who created the character designs for '' Ghost in the Shell: SAC 2045'' and ''The Wonderland'' (2019). Early life He is popular on Instagram, where he had 2 million followers as o ...

, and music composed by Harumi Fuuki. It premiered in Japan on December 23, 2022. Yuuri performed the film's theme song .

GKIDS GKIDS is an American film distributor based in New York with, according to the ''Los Angeles Times'', a focus on "sophisticated, indie" animation. GKIDS releases critically acclaimed, mostly hand-drawn, international films—such as the works o ...

acquired the rights to the film in North America, and is set to screen it in Japanese and English-language formats on June 21–22, 2023.

Reception

In 2017, the novel placed first in

Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to: *Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publis ...

's ''

Da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

'' magazine "Book of the Year" list. It also won the

Japan Booksellers' Award is an annual Japan, Japanese literary award. It is awarded based on votes by bookstore clerks from all over Japan. Winners Excellent translations See also * CD Shop Awards References External links * J'Lit , Awards : Booksel ...

in 2018. The anime film adaptation debuted at 6th at the Japanese box office, earning million (million) on its opening weekend. It was well-received by audience, and was rated 3.94 out of 5 on its first day on . Richard Eisenbeis of ''

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...

'' gave the film a 'B-', applauding its social commentary on

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

in Japan and its relatable cast of characters, but criticizing its plot twists, which are 'easy to see coming'. Writing for ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'', Matt Schley gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, praising its social commentary and its characters as well while criticizing the direction of the film, which 'lacks anything resembling subtlety', noting its 'overbearing' soundtrack 'commanding its audience to feel at any given moment'. In 2023, the film was nominated for Animation of the Year at the

46th Japan Academy Film Prize The is the 46th edition of the Japan Academy Film Prize, an award presented by the Nippon Academy-Sho Association to award excellence in filmmaking Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmakin ...

References

External links

* * * * {{A-1 Pictures 2017 Japanese novels 2022 anime films A-1 Pictures Anime and manga based on novels Japanese novels adapted into films Seinen manga Seven Seas Entertainment titles Shueisha manga